Open Access

Jan Wilke, Lisa Mohr, Adam S. Tenforde, Pascal Edouard, Chiara Fossati, Marcela González-Gross, Celso Sanchez Ramirez, Fernando Laiño, Benedict Tan, Julian David Pillay, Fabio Pigozzi, David Jimenez-Pavon, Bernhard Novak, David Url, Mandy Zhang, Mireille van Poppel, Christoph Heidt, Steffen Willwacher, Lutz Vogt, Evert Verhagen, Karsten Peter Hollander, Luiz Hespanhol, Gustavo Yuki

• Confinement measures during the COVID-19 pandemic have caused substantial reductions in global physical activity (PA) levels. In view of the manifold health benefits of PA, the development of interventions counteracting this trend is paramount. Our survey with 15,261 participants (38 ± 15 years, 58.5% females) examined preferences towards digital home exercise programs in 14 countries affected by COVID-19. More than two-thirds of the sample (68.4%, n = 10,433) indicated being interested in home exercise, and most participants were willing to work out at least three times per week (89.3%, n = 9328). Binary logistic regression revealed that female sex, working part-time, younger age, and being registered in a gym were associated with willingness to exercise. Flexibility (71.1%, n = 7377), resistance (68.6%, n = 7116), and endurance training (62.4%, n = 6478) were the most preferred types of exercise. Our results may guide health providers in developing individually tailored PA interventions during the current and future pandemics.